Star Legends: The Blackstar Chronicles is a mobile MMORPG from Spacetime Studios that may be technically the game that has had the longest development cycle in mobile gaming. Though the game was originally meant for traditional computer platforms, it got stuck in development hell and was only recently unearthed after the launch of last year’s Pocket Legends. This game uses a similar backbone, supporting play between users of different platforms, including iOS and Android players.

Star Legends‘ story has players taking on various missions for several corporations aboard the Blackstar spaceship. Players choose from three classes: the hulking Commando, the skill-based Engineer, and the Operative that primarily targets single enemies. The combat system involves an auto-firing weapon, and skills that the player can map on the main screen. Star Legends is free to play, with Platinum available for purchase that can be used to obtain additional money, items, and enhancements. Star Legends is thankfully built for mobile gaming; it is very easy to just log in and go to a mission, with players joining as they may. The game also offers options for friends lists and Guild management for deeper and more organized play sessions. Still, this is a game that can be played very casually on a whim for short play sessions. Don’t be afraid to leave the house!

However, Star Legends‘ cross-platform gameplay is perhaps its greatest strength; players can load up any client that the game runs on, be it an iOS device or an Android device, phone or tablet, using their same character and platinum when logged in to the same Spacetime Studios account. This platform agnosticism is perhaps the most impressive part of Star Legends; the game just works, no matter what system.

This is a free to play game; while not spending money is certainly an option, Star Legends is not afraid to give advantages to those who do spend money. By spending money, players can easily earn additional experience, boost their stats, and even get better items at the very beginning. This may put some people off right away, though nothing is necessary. Combat can be very finnicky at times, especially targeting special abilities. If the enemy targeted when an ability is used suddenly dies, the next enemy isn’t targeted, leading much ability usage to go to waste. While mashing the attack button to lock on works as well, it just doesn’t feel as clean. It is possible at times for enemies to overwhelm players to the point where it is impossible to respawn without enemies instantly killing the player. This is supremely annoying, to say the least. The game seems to have limited amounts of gameplay past level 25, though it is likely that Spacetime Studios will add more in the way of content as time goes on, especially as they supported Pocket Legends long after release.

Star Legends is as much a feat of technical impressiveness as it also successful as a casual MMORPG experience. This is a genre that is teeming with potential, but thanks in part to games just wanting to directly copy World of Warcraft, has become stale, and overly demanding of players. Getting more of a short-burst gameplay experience, and feeling like I don’t need to be overly committed to a game is rather refreshing.

Star Legends: The Blackstar Chronicles, the long-awaited and long-in-development MMORPG from Pocket Legends creator Spacetime Studios is inching ever closer to release. After the recent ‘closed’ beta for Verizon V CAST users, the game is now available as an open beta on the Android Market. Users can install the game for free from the Android Market, create a character, and buy Platinum (the game’s premium currency) for upgrading their character and purchasing in-game items. The game is also one of the top recent releases according to Yahoo’s Appolicious. It appears that there isn’t a way to recover characters from the closed beta, although they still exist in the system, as I discovered when I tried to re-register a character name I used in the closed beta that wasn’t available. The full game is coming soon, and will be released on the Android Market as well as potentially for iOS. Stay tuned to Android Market for a review of the full version when it releases.

Spacetime Studios’ upcoming MMORPG for mobiles, Star Legends: The Blackstar Chronicles, has officially entered into a closed beta. This long-in-development game, revived recently after the success of Pocket Legends, is now playable for the public for the first time.

Launching the game, players choose from three classes: Commando, Engineer, and Operative. Commando is the game’s power class, using powerful guns to take out enemies. The other classes are more suited for ranged combat and skill usage. Quests can be obtained by talking to people on the ship. The first few quests are just to introduce the controls and where locations on the ship are, before dropping into instances where players try to take out mercenaries and boss enemies. Levels include boxes with items, and item pickups that enemies drop; these are fairly standard entries to the genre. It’s possible to do level instances and quests solo, although it’s easy from the main menu to join up with players playing through specific levels, in order to gain more experience and take on enemies with the help of the old axiom “power in numbers.”

The game seems to make it easy to just jump into a game and play, while still providing the standard MMO experience for fans of the genre. The overworld music and space theme evoke memories of the original Phantasy Star Online, a far underrated online RPG. There appear to be 36 total quests in this beta, providing enough content to explore the game’s worlds currently available. The game offers an in-app purchase currency, called Plat, that can be used to purchase a variety of things from items, credits, upgrade slots, and more. It is not known if the game hands out Plat for in-game tasks, at least early on.

For those looking to give the game a shot, the beta lasts until July 20th, available as a free download until July 20th for Verizon subscribers, as the beta is being exclusively distributed on V CAST. However, we are giving away some access codes into the beta; the first person to comment below will win access into the beta (ability to install non-Market applications required). Keep an eye on our Twitter and Facebook pages to win access into the beta as well! There’s no word yet on when the final version of the game comes out, but stay tuned for more of our coverage on this anticipated game.

With the Xperia Play out on US shores, Sony Ericsson is starting to pick up some more exclusives for their gaming-focused Android phone. They’ve announced 20 new games that will either be exclusive for the Xperia Play, or will be optimized for the phone. There are a few interesting ones that have been announced:

Minecraft: This was already known, but it seems as if Mojang is expanding Minecraft through exclusive deals rather than an all-out assault on other devices; this is factored in with the announcement by Microsoft that the 360 would be the exclusive console home of Minecraft. Is an iOS or general Android version of Minecraft in jeopardy, at least in the short-term?

Battlefield Bad Company 2: This online first person shooter was previously exclusive to iOS, making a splash at launch when it was released for $0.99. This is a bit more bold than the typical EA Android release, where the games have been largely multiplatform franchises. Apparently EA thinks this one is big enough to bring to Android as well. No word on if the online multiplayer will make it as well. This one will be at least a time-limited exclusive for the Xperia Play.

Star Legends: The Black Star Chronicles: The announcement that this is coming out is not necessarily news, since the mobile release of this MMORPG from Spacetime Studios was announced back in February. What is news is that the name of the game has apparently changed, and that it will be getting Xperia Play support, along with Spacetime’s other mobile MMORPG, Pocket Legends. The games will not be exclusive to the Xperia Play, just optimized for the phone.

Order & Chaos: Also on the MMORPG front, Gameloft are bringing their World of Warcraft clone to Android, with optimization for the Xperia Play. No word on if crossplatform play will come along with it. Also coming from Gameloft with Xperia Play optimization are fellow RPGs Eternal Legacy and Dungeon Hunter 2.

A full list of the titles coming to the Xperia Play, in both exclusive and optimized form, is available at the link below.

The massively multiplayer online RPG marketplace has yet to really take off on mobile platforms, especially as established players in the MMO space have yet to really attack mobile devices at all, allowing newcomers to unleash their ideas on these platforms. Spacetime Studios have explored the mobile MMORPG market themselves with the crossplatform Pocket Legends, a fantasy MMORPG that was launched on iOS, and later found its way to Android. However, Spacetime Studios are now setting their eyes on the stars, with a very cool new project: launching their sci-fi MMORPG Blackstar on iOS and Android later this year.